Nick heard them too. He froze mid-step and slowly turned his head, looking at me with wide eyes.

"Over here," I hissed.

Quickly, we ducked behind a large, metal ventilation duct-thingy just as two figures emerged onto the roof. Their identical lanky bodies confirmed that they were the Andersen twins, Edwin and whatsisface. As we watched from behind the bulky metal object, they exchanged a few words in low voices and crossed to the middle of the roof. I noticed that they even had the same manner of walking: hunched-shouldered and shambling. Now that they were closer, we could hear what they were saying.

Edwin: "But the door was never unlocked before."

Whatsisface: "Yeah, so the janitor might have left it open accidentally. It's nothing to worry about. Do you see any cops?"

Edwin: "No, but they could be hiding somewhere."

Whatsisface: "What can cops do to us, anyways?"

Edwin: Long silence.

Whatsisface: "See? Nothing to be scared of."

Edwin: "But, Jerry--"

So that was his name. I'd known it had started with the letter J.

Jerry took something out of his pocket and set it on the concrete. Squinting, I tried to determine what it was, but it was unidentifiable. All I could tell was that it was spherical and about the size of an apricot. Beside me, I sensed Nick go tense out of curiosity.

I wondered vaguely whether I should be afraid. Could the object be dangerous?

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